


Worth a Thousand Words

by Rookieforlife



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Celebrity AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-03 11:22:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookieforlife/pseuds/Rookieforlife
Summary: As a rising star in Hollywood, Christen Press has a hard time being out and about without getting bombarded by paparazzi. She tries her best to avoid them, until she meets one that’s different than all the rest





	1. behind a coffee shop

**Author's Note:**

> There will definitely be long breaks between updates.

Christen hates this part of her job the most.

She's an actor; people should only care about her films or her next appearance on whatever late night show her publicist her has booked her on. Instead, one candid fan-photo of her entering her favourite coffee shop is posted to twitter and suddenly every paparazzi, whether amateur or professional, is lining the street outside just to get any picture of her that they can get to sell to whichever tabloid will buy it.

She just wants to drink her over-priced coffee in peace, not be featured in next week's edition of Celebrities: They're Just Like Us.

So she's hiding. Christen has crept away to the back of the shop, hoping that they'll get bored or that another celebrity more famous than her will be spotted and they'll all flock to them. The cafe is fairly empty now and Christen is slumped into her favourite comfy sofa in the corner. It's been over an hour but the paparazzi don't seem to be leaving. She's already gone over all of her lines in the script for her next movie, making notes in the margins with her red pen for the read-through tomorrow.

Pulling out her planner, Christen decides to plan out her day tomorrow while she actually has a chance to. The rest of her day today is quite busy and she wants to get it done before she's about to fall asleep tonight. The table read-through isn’t until late afternoon, leaving her morning and most of her afternoon free. Christen decides she's going to sleep in until 10, followed by yoga at 11, and a run on the beach at 12:30. That should leave her enough time to head home to get cleaned up before she has to head to the studio for the read-through.

Christen closes her planner, looking towards the exit and hoping to see that the street has cleared. Unfortunately, she knows she's out of luck as she sees a man with his eyes cupped to the window and a camera hanging around his neck.  
  
She's still not used to the fame aspect of her job. Christen was acting in minor roles for a long time before she got her Big Break. Apparently soccer movies with a lot of latent homosexual subtext can make you famous practically over night.

There have been talks of a sequel, which could be the reason for the hoard of photographers hanging outside the coffee shop. Christen has been trying her best to talk around the sequel in every interview for the past few months, but apparently it isn’t working.

Christen has to leave soon. She knows the manager of the store, Alyssa, will let her sneak out the back, but it makes Christen feel like she'll owe her something, and Alyssa probably doesn't want or need another autographed headshot.

Maybe she'd like a visit to set.

According to her planner, she has about 15 more minutes that she can waste hiding until she has to be at a wardrobe fitting. She considers texting a former co-star, hoping that they'll make an appearance on the other side of town so she can make a clean getaway. It's unfair and definitely won't work, but it's an idea and surprisingly not the worst she's ever had. Making her way to the cashier, she sees that all the paparazzi are still lined outside on the sidewalk. There’s less of them, but if Christen stalls any longer, the producers are going to be mad at her tardiness.

She pulls out a $20 bill and stuffs it into the tip jar. "Hey Lys," she greets, offering a shy smile at the woman behind the counter. Alyssa finishes wiping the counter before tossing the cloth into a small bucket of water. She returns Christen’s smile as she stands in front of the cash register. "They're relentless today." Christen gestures vaguely in the direction of the front of the store, where she can see the masses of people with their cameras at the ready. "Can I get another and a danish, to go this time?"

"Do you want to go out the back again?" She offers a sympathetic smile, while moving to the espresso machine to start on the latte.

Alyssa hands Christen her finished latte and she pays, dropping her change into the tip jar as well. "Only if it's not too much trouble," Christen sighs in relief. She hates asking because it makes her feel like she thinks she’s better than everyone else, but Alyssa knows how much she hates the attention the paparazzi give her. Especially since she'll probably never live down the truly unflattering photo of her terrible posture that's still being circulated around the internet.

"It's never too much trouble for our best customer," Alyssa jokes, although she's not lying. Not only does Christen buy at least three coffees a day, but ever since a paparazzi photo of her holding a Red Stars coffee cup got published in several different tabloids, their sales have increased substantially.

Alyssa hands Christen her pastry, gesturing to the swinging door that will bring her to the back exit. Christen always feels awkward when she leaves this way, passing employees on their breaks who are staring into their phones. She doesn't know whether she should put her hair into some sort of makeshift ponytail. Christen's never worked in the food service industry, but she always thinks about the lunch-ladies with their hairnet covered hair as she passes through this way. Alyssa's never said anything about it, though, so it must be fine.

They make it to the back door and Christen gives Alyssa a loose hug. "Seriously, thank you," she says, relief evident on her face. "I owe you so much."

"It's not a big deal." Alyssa shrugs, opening the door for Christen. "I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

"If you ever want to go to any movie premieres..."

"I'll let you know," Alyssa jokes.

The door shuts behind Christen as she's searching her purse for her keys. When she finds them, she looks up and notices a paparazzo searching through pictures on her camera, a few feet away from her.

"You've got to be kidding me," she says harshly, making the paparazzo jump slightly from her position leaning against the brick wall. Christen immediately uses her free hand to cover her face from the woman. "Please, no pictures."

The woman lifts her hands into the air like Christen was the police and had asked to see the woman's hands. "Shit, sorry." Her camera is hanging around her neck. "I wasn't expecting anyone back here."

She looks genuinely surprised as she relaxes her arms, adjusting her SnapBack before dropping her hands to her sides, grabbing her phone from her pocket on the way down. She doesn't look like the paparazzi that Christen is used to. They're mostly creepy looking men with unkempt facial hair and ratty looking clothes, whereas she's quite pretty with her natural looking makeup and a well put-together outfit.

If this were any other moment, Christen would probably be flirting with the woman, much to her publicist's chagrin.

"I swear I didn't take any pictures," the woman says, her voice smooth yet lazy, which succeeds in breaking Christen out of her staring. "I kind of ran out of space on my memory card." She shrugs, gesturing at the camera against her chest.

"Aren't you supposed to have a backup?" Christen asks, curiously. She remembers shortly after her Big Break came out that one paparazzo had followed her around the city all day, taking hundreds of thousands of pictures and filling up multiple memory cards. Christen knows that's an extreme case, but she's sure that they normally have extras.

"Well, yeah." The woman's fiddling with her phone. "This is actually a brand new one, but there was this cool tree and I took more pictures than I meant to. And then there was this building and honestly I just kept taking picture." She shrugs again. “Of course I forgot to pack an extra one.” She leans back against the wall behind her. "That's why I was back here."

Christen copies the photographer's position, bending her right knee and resting her foot on the wall behind her. "What? Deleting pictures?"

"Yeah," she replies. "Tabloids don't pay for pretty trees.

Christen laughs turning her head to look in the direction she should be leaving in. She should leave now, but she knows the moment she steps out of the alley and onto the sidewalk she'll probably be swarmed by paparazzi.

Something about this photographer calms Christen. It might be because she's looking at Christen like an actual person, and not like a slab of meat with a substantial payout. Or it might be how carefree she seems with her black ripped jeans, her Wild Feminist shirt, and her black snapback that's perched backwards on her head. Whatever it is, Christen let's her guard down, something she hasn't done around a stranger in years.

She suddenly hears the loud click of a picture being taken, before the woman is swearing and lowering her hands to her side.

Christen turns back to the woman across from her, crossing her arms over her chest, letting her warm coffee rest against her right arm. She can't believe she trusted her to leave her alone. Christen can't believe how stupid she was around this stranger and she can physically feel her walls being built right back up. "That was my phone." She says, as if it makes a difference. "I swear I'm not going to sell it." She looks genuinely sorry, but Christen doesn't care. "I'll delete it, I promise. You just looked really pretty."

The woman is blushing at her confession, refusing to look at Christen and instead is searching the ground between them. Christen suddenly feels something, and it's not anger. It sort of feels like embarrassment at her quick reaction to get mad at the woman. "Well let's see it then." Christen is stepping closer to the photographer, reaching out for the phone in her hands.

Without arguing, the woman hands Christen the phone, adjusting her hat again. Christen's not sure why the paparazzo trusts her with the device, she's heard horror stories from her publicist of celebrities smashing cameras and phones after the owner took a picture without consent. Christen never would, but this photographer doesn't know that.

The picture is pretty good, considering it was taken on a last generation iPhone with a crack down the centre. Christen looks relaxed, with the hint of a smile playing at her lips. The sunglasses perched on her forehead are pulling her curly hair away from her face. Her one hand is resting on her hip and the other is holding her coffee as she leans against red brick wall. She naturally dresses well when she leaves her house each morning, so her tight black jeans and her loose white blouse accentuate her body nicely.

The woman clearly has a good eye for pictures and Christen's been unfairly rude so far, so Christen decides to give her a break. "You're not too bad of a photographer," she comments, starting to hand the phone back. "Do you mind if I send that to myself?" Christen asks. It's pretty good and Christen is in desperate need of a new twitter profile picture.

The woman nods, letting Christen take back the phone so that she can text it to herself.

"I'm Christen, by the way." She realizes that she has yet to introduce herself as she places the phone back into the photographer's hand.

The woman quickly stuffs the phone into her pocket. "I know, I mean." She pauses, adjusting her camera around her neck. "I'm Tobin?" It sounds more like a question than a statement, making it more than obvious that Tobin is still somewhat nervous.

"Well, Tobin," she says while starting to walk away. "Nice to meet you, but I've got to go." She's probably going to be a little late for her wardrobe fitting, but honestly, Christen doesn't really mind. Tobin seems nice, unlike other paparazzi, and she actually wouldn't mind getting photographed by her while she walks down the street.

"I know it's a long shot," Tobin calls after her as she begins to walk out of the alley. Christen turns around, looking at the photographer as she fiddles around on her camera. "But can I just get one picture?" She's holding up her fancy camera, which Christen assumes she managed to make room on.

Christen's feeling generous, and she actually genuinely likes Tobin so she agrees. "Yeah but only if you get my good side."

Tobin's camera snaps a few times. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you don't have a bad side."

She can feel her cheeks heating up as she walks away. "I'll see you around." She calls over her shoulder, listening to one final click before she rounds the corner onto the main sidewalk and getting swarmed by the hoard of paparazzi down the street


	2. outside of yoga and again on the beach

Christen is supposed to be sleeping in. She scheduled it into her planner and everything. Sleep in. Wake up- 10am. She has all morning free and she planned to spend her free time sleeping.

She usually has no problem sleeping in. Most days when her alarm is blaring at her to wake up, she's able to ignore it, sleeping in longer than she’s supposed to. Even when she is awake this early, her eyes don't even register the red of 5:30am flashing on the clock.

But for some strange reason, Christen can't get back to sleep no matter how hard she tries.

So instead, she's laying in bed surfing through social media.

Before Christen changed her twitter icon to the picture Tobin took of her, she posted it on Instagram. Usually when she posts a new never before seen photo of herself, Christen gets a fairly even mix of both positive and negative comments. Lots of hearts and marriage proposals and a bunch of complaints of her acting in her various films. She doesn't mind what people think of her and usually she doesn't pay attention to the comments, but for some reason today, Christen couldn't help scrolling through them.

It was most of the usual comments, but, strangely, far more positive. Maybe it's because it's still early and the people with personal vendettas dedicated to hating who they think Christen is haven't woken up or maybe it's because it is actually a really good picture, but Christen finds herself smiling as she reads through each of the 200 or so comments posted.

Her smile brightens at one particular comment. It was one simple emoji, just the camera and nothing else, but the name attached to it was the reason Christen's cheeks had began to ache.

tobinheath

She didn't have to click on the profile to know it was her, the name was rare enough and the choice of emoji made it obvious, but Christen did anyway. Her curiosity was apparently getting the better of her this early in the morning.

The most recent picture at the top-left corner of the page was misshapen palm tree, the sun at a perfect level to be shining through the leaves creating an aureate glow. It's honestly one of the most beautiful pictures Christen has seen and Christen has a hard time looking away from it to look at the other pictures. Christen sees that it was posted late yesterday evening and she fully understands how Tobin wasted an entire memory card taking pictures before she made it to Christen.

Eventually she glances through the other pictures, noticing that it was, indeed, her paparazzo. Most of her pictures are of beautiful scenery, but there are a few selfies and group pictures with her and her family or friends. Christen scrolls far down, taking a moment to appreciate each of the photographer’s photos. Tobin seems to like taking pictures on the beach, which puts a small smile on Christen's face.

Tobin is, Christen notices, a talented photographer, probably wasting her potential on following celebrities for easy money. Christen can’t complain about it, though, she’s done too many terrible commercials and Made-For-TV movies just to get that little bit ahead.

She accidentally-on-purpose likes a few of her photos, hoping that Tobin will take that as a thank you for the one of her, uncaring that her followers will be able to see her possible cyberstalking. Christen quickly changes her caption on her picture to give credit to Tobin.

Realizing that she can’t spend all morning cyberstalking her now-favourite photographer, Christen instead decides to start her day early. She mentally rearranges her schedule, moving yoga up and adding a massage after her run. She quickly sends a text to her assistant, Sofia, asking her to book her a massage when the rest of the world wakes up.

When she exits out of Sofia’s text feed, she sees the text she sent herself from Tobin’s phone. There’s been no activity since that picture was sent, but for some reason, Christen decides to open the text feed, anyway.

Her fingers hover over the keyboard before she convinces herself to just send a simple apology for her unintentional rudeness. All Christen needs is a tabloid reporting an over exaggerated tantrum.

_Hey Tobin_ , she starts the text. Simple and concise. She adds an exclamation point, removes it when she decides it makes her look too eager.

She doesn’t know why she cares, Tobin is a random paparazzo. They met briefly and under awkward circumstances, and still Christen finds herself overthinking. If Tobin hadn’t filled up her memory card, she wouldn’t have been around the corner away from the other photographers. Christen would never have met her. She continues typing before she talks herself out of it.

_I just wanted to apologize for being unfairly rude to you yesterday. I jumped too quickly to an incorrect conclusion._

Christen is forever grateful for the media training she was given. It makes giving real apologies so much easier. Christen doesn’t need Sofia or some media team to write one for her, especially since she wants to selfishly keep her interactions with Tobin to herself.

_Thanks for letting me both see and use the picture you took of me. It had a surprisingly positive response on instagram. - Christen Press_

Christen thinks she should sign her name to the text. They didn’t technically exchange numbers, so there is a chance Tobin won’t actually know who she is. Maybe Tobin just went to Christen’s whereabouts by some mass alert that all paparazzi get. She may be one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now, but there are a few people who have no idea who she is. Tobin could be one of the few.

Christen quickly presses send, before she gets a chance to change her mind and places her phone onto her bedside table. She’s not expecting an answer right away, she’s not even expecting an answer at all, but she knows if she keeps her phone with her while she’s getting ready, she’ll be obsessing over whether or not Tobin has responded.

She takes her time getting ready, knowing that the first yoga session her favourite studio has doesn’t start for a while. It’s a beginner’s class, but any yoga is worth it. She’ll just get a better stretch with the easier poses.

Only when Christen is completely dressed in her yoga clothes with all her gym stuffed packed does she finally look at her phone.

The string of messages waiting for her makes Christen smile. She doesn’t need to look in a mirror to know that there’s a blush creeping onto her neck from her cheeks as she can feel the warmth building. Christen reads over the messages a few times.

_It was really no problem :)_

_To be fair I did take your picture without consent_

_I should be the one apologizing_

_Don’t worry tho from now on I’ll be sure to ask ;)_

_And of course it was a hit! Any picture of you is beautiful_

Christen finds herself staring at that last sentence longer than she should. Sure Christen’s been out of any meaningful relationship for far too long, but the word beautiful shouldn’t make butterflies flutter in her stomach. Especially over text and from someone she doesn’t actually know.

She’s a celebrity, of course Tobin’s flattering her. Christen rolls her eyes at the realization, but still finds herself thinking _what if_.

_Thanks Tobin. You really know how to make a girl smile on a Wednesday morning._

Christen heads out her house and gets into her car before she gets another message from Tobin. She’s pretty sure that she could spend all morning texting Tobin if she continues to make her smile like this.

_Oh yeah! It’s morning. Why are you awake? I thought famous people didn’t wake up until noon. Or are you actually asleep? Am I talking to your assistant?_

Christen chuckles at Tobin’s message. Tobin seems to have lost her nervousness from the day before. Maybe not being face to face is the trick. She tries to come up with a witty response before giving up and just telling her the truth.

_No it is me. I was planning on sleeping in this morning, but my mind wouldn’t let me. Going to yoga at Naam and then for a run._

Scrunching up her nose, Christen thinks about removing the name of her favourite yoga studio from her text. She knows she should, Sofia would kill her if she found out she purposely sent her location to a known paparazzo, even if Sofia does it as a publicity stunt to get Christen’s movies some buzz. She has been photographed a few times leaving the studio before, so it wouldn’t be too hard for Tobin to figure out where she is anyway. Christen exhales a long breath before finally pressing send, opting to leave her future location in. She sort of really wants to see Tobin again.

Tobin’s next message comes almost instantaneous, Christen hasn’t even gotten the chance to put her phone down.

_You go all the way to Santa Monica for yoga?_

Christen wastes no time responding.

_How do you know I don’t live there?_

Christen quirks an eyebrow like Tobin is right in front of her and finds herself smiling again when Tobin answers just as quickly.

_Well you’re always at Red Stars and since there’s like 15 coffee shops on every corner, it’s more likely that you live near there._

Christen is about to argue that there’s pretty much a yoga studio on every corner too, they are in LA after all, but she decides against it. It’s much easier flirting with the photographer.

_You’re just trying to find out where I live._

The winking emoji seems like the perfect ending to their conversation. Christen locks her phone and stuffs it into her bag before driving to her favourite yoga studio.

Yoga and meditation are the perfect relaxation method for Christen with her early wake up finally hitting her. Rolling up her mat and thanking the instructor, Christen heads out the door. She feels refreshed and ready for a jog to the beach.

At her car, Christen loads all her yoga stuff into her trunk before finding the perfect playlist to run to. Just as she’s about to press play, she gets an incoming text.

It’s the camera emoji again followed, this time, by a couple question marks. Christen looks up from her phone to find Tobin across the street from her wiggling her camera in Christen’s direction, silently asking permission with a small shrug of her shoulders.

She’s too far away to yell without drawing attention to herself, so Christen chooses to text back instead.

_Do I look okay? Or am I too sweaty?_

She watches as Tobin uses her camera to zoom in. Her finger is nowhere near the shutter button, probably deliberately so Christen knows she’s not secretly photographing her.

After a few moments, Tobin drops her camera, letting it hang around her neck. She flashes a brief thumbs up before grabbing her phone out of her back pocket.

When Tobin’s message come in, Christen can’t even attempt to stop the roll of her eyes. She looks up to find Tobin’s wide smile, clearly proud of her message.

_You look amazing! Have you considered modelling as a career? Or maybe acting? Yeah you’d make an amazing actor._

A moment later, before Christen gets the chance to respond, she receives another message.

_Honestly though, you look good. No visible sweat at all._

Christen smiles shyly, quickly texting her consent before returning to searching for a playlist. It feels a little weird that she just got asked for permission to have her picture taken, especially since Christen hasn’t had real privacy in years, but she won’t complain. It’s nice to actually have a say in it.

Too bad all paparazzi weren’t like Tobin.

Christen sets off on her run, imagining the sound of the clicks of Tobin’s shutter before she rounds the corner and is out of Tobin’s sight.

She pushes herself a little harder, knowing the stunts for her next movie are going to be a little tougher than anything she’s previously done. The producers mentioned having her do as much as she could without having a stunt double to fill in, so Christen wants to be prepared.

When she finally makes it to the beach, taking a longer path than usual, Christen is exhausted. She takes a minute to admire the view of the waves while she stretches her sore leg muscles. The beach is fairly empty. There are a few surfers testing out the morning waves and a couple small families enjoying the uncrowded area.

Christen removes her shoes and socks, a smile pulling at her lips at the feeling of the warm sand. She walks slowly toward the water, letting the waves cool the sand as they wash over her feet.

She feels relaxed on the beach. It’s like her second home, a place to escape from all the prying eyes that’s caused by being famous.

Christen spins around in slow steps, her eyes closed and face pointing up at the warm sun as the water reaches her shins.

The beach is quiet, only the sound of the soft waves and the light chatter from a few of the early morning occupants. It’s not hard to detect the fluttering of a camera snapping multiple picture. It’s a sound that Christen usually despises, but in this moment, she can’t seem to make herself care.

Christen opens her eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the bright sun when she hears a familiar slow drawl.

“Sorry.”

Christen purses her lips to stop from smiling at the guilty look on Tobin’s face.

“Did you follow me here?” Christen asks, genuine curiosity in her voice. She doesn’t care if she had, but the cut off jean shorts would have made jogging behind Christen with a camera on her neck nearly impossible.

Tobin picks her camera up again and snaps a few more photos, dropping it around her neck before cringing at her automatic reflex.

Christen laughs as Tobin stuffs her hands into her pockets, resisting the urge to take yet another picture. She takes a few steps out of the water, towards the paparazzo.

“No,” Tobin shrugs, her hands having not moved from their new position. “I came here to take some pictures of the surfers. I think you may have followed me here.”

“Says the paparazzi who just got caught.”

Christen laughs again at the way Tobin scrunches up her nose. When she opens her mouth to apologize, Christen doesn’t let her.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Christen holds up her hands in surrender, finally close enough to see the blush forming on Tobin’s cheeks. “I’m not going to stop you from taking my picture.”

Christen watches as Tobin’s hands slide slowly from their confinement, landing softly against her thighs. She’s holding them still as if resisting the urge to grab her camera. “I told you this morning that I wasn’t going to photograph you without your permission, though.”

“Well then,” Christen starts, beginning to circle around Tobin. She watches Tobin spin with her, the two never breaking eye contact. “You have my express verbal permission to take my picture whenever you want.” She stops walking and faces Tobin. Christen wants to reach out, to join hands with Tobin, but she doesn’t as Tobin finally allows herself to touch her camera again. “Within reason.”

Tobin smiles lifting her camera to her eye. She doesn’t take a picture, just stands there a moment before lowering the camera again. Tobin tilts her head to the side, pondering her next sentence before speaking.

“And you can take away that consent any time you want.”

It’s not a question, but a statement making it clear to Christen that Tobin actually cares about her privacy. Christen smiles, turning away so that Tobin can’t see her blush. To says she’s surprised at Tobin’s respect is an understatement. Christen spins back toward the photographer, reaching out her hand.

“Deal.”

When Tobin reaches forward, taking Christen’s hand in hers, Christen can’t help but to run her thumb across the soft skin on the back of Tobin’s hand.

“Deal,” Tobin responds as they shake and Christen reluctantly pulls her hand away. She watches Tobin lick her bottom lip before turning around to gather her shoes and phone.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” she states, walking backwards away from the water and from Tobin. “See you later.”

She waves and watches Tobin wave back, picking up her camera quickly and snapping a few pictures before Christen turns around to go back to the city.

Even as the beach starts to fill up, Christen swears she can still hear the click of Tobin’s camera as her feet hit the cement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to run on sentences


	3. on a busy sidewalk outside of her car

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Julie are relentless and Christen probably seems insane to 65% of LA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written like a week ago, but then I forgot about it... whoopsies

“Are you seriously watching that again?”

Christen places her thumb on her phone screen to pause the video as she looks up. Julie is standing just in front of Christen, her eyebrows are raised and her hands are placed firmly on her hips. When her eyes travel away from Christen’s phone and meet Christen, her smirk is almost unbearable.

“Yes.” Christen locks her phone quickly and places it under her leg. She figures there’s no point in lying since Julie has caught her a few times now, once while she was supposed to be paying attention at the beginning of the read-through. With the way Julie is watching her now, Christen knows she won’t be able to get away with it. “Is that a problem?”

Julie rolls her eyes and takes a seat beside Christen on the long couch. She reaches under Christen’s leg, retrieving the hidden phone and unlocks it easily, having figured out Christen’s passcode long ago. She watches the last five seconds of the video and when Tobin’s face appears at the final moment, Julie lets out a knowing, “Ah.”

“What?” Christen asks, hoping Julie doesn’t say what she has clearly figured out. Christen’s got a crush. A terribly obvious crush and there’s no way it is going to end well.

She just has wait until it blows over. Until the media makes a wild speculation about her and a random celebrity that she probably hasn’t even met, her publicist sets her up with another fake relationship, and Christen is forced to pretend it real. She’ll be so annoyed with her new relationship that she’ll forget all about Tobin. Until then, Christen’s going to continuously watch a fifteen second video to see a single second of Tobin’s face at the very end.

It is a pretty video, though. The beach that Christen left just a few hours ago has filled up, but it’s still as breathtaking as it was when it was practically empty. Christen has rewatched the camera pan across the beach over and over. She’s practically memorized the beach-goers swimming between the waves, the few sand covered children building castles, and the lazy sun-tanners lounging on towels, just for the final second where Tobin flips the camera to show her sun-reddened cheeks and toothy smile.

Julie clicks Tobin’s icon to restart the video again and Christen has to do everything in her power to keep herself from leaning over to watch that final moment. With Tobin’s laughs just before her face become visible, it seems especially difficult.

“I get it,” Julie states, passing Christen’s phone back. Christen sinks further into the couch, hoping Julie’s talking about how beautiful the beach is and hasn’t figured out how bad Christen’s crush truly is. “She’s hot. Who is she?”

Christen nods nonchalantly, not willing it admit anything to her costar yet even though Julie has clearly figured it out. “Just some photographer I met yesterday.”

Julie hums, leaning back against the couch cushions. “You should ask her out.”

The way Julie suggest that idea like it’s that easy is crazy to Christen. Julie is engaged to a professional football player, someone just as famous as her. She’s been dating Zach since they were both nobodies in college and has no idea how difficult it is to actually date someone, especially someone not known by pretty much everyone in the world. So Christen just rolls her eyes and smiles.

“Jules, I literally just met her.”

“That’s not a decent enough excuse,” Julie counters but doesn’t dig any further.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, waiting out the short break the producers have given them. Julie rest her head on Christen’s shoulder and pats Christen’s thigh gently.

“You know she can see that you’ve watched that.” Christen nods slowly with her cheek resting atop Julie’s head. She knows that, but clearly Julie’s getting at something, so she waits for her to continue. “She’s going to know you’ve seen it like a hundred times.”

“Wait, it shows how many times I’ve watched it?” Christen panics sitting up straight and feeling around the couch for her phone. She’s about to text Tobin, say that there a glitch it her phone or something to explain the fact that she has watched it more than twenty times.

When she looks over at Julie, the way she’s looking back at Christen with a hint of amusement through pursed lips gives Julie away. Christen pushes Julie’s shoulder away before she lays her head in her hands with her elbows on her knees.

“That was a good one,” Julie responds, rubbing a supposed comforting circle on Christen’s back. All it manages to do is make Christen even more embarrassed than she already is. So, Christen stands up and starts heading back to the large circle of tables set up for the read-through with Julie following closely behind. “Come on CP, I can’t help that you’re that gullible.”

A few of their fellow costars look up from their phones at Julie’s voice and the two settle into their spots at the table. Alex wastes no time nudging Christen from her spot on Christen’s left. Christen looks at the phone that’s being slid in front of her and reads the large print that makes up the headline.

_Christen Press Dating Mystery Woman?_

Christen rolls her eyes at the tabloid, thinking about who she’s possibly dating now. At least it’s a woman this time, she thinks before her eyes travel down the article. Her heart rate picks up as she sees the top of the image on display.

The picture that they chose to place below the headline is of Christen at the beach this morning, just as she finished shaking hands with Tobin. Their hands are still slightly clasped giving the impression that they were holding hands rather than shaking, and the smile that’s on Christen’s face would do nothing to dispel those rumours.

Luckily, the photo was taken from behind Tobin so no one can see her face. All Christen needs is her fans finding out who Tobin is and harassing her. She wants to keep this friendship that she started.

Julie leans over Christen’s shoulder, following along as Christen reads the article through.

“Is that the girl from instagram? I thought you said you just met her,” Julie says when Christen scrolls back to the top to read it again. “You were seen,” she pauses briefly to read the exact phrasing that the article used. “Canoodling in an alley?”

Christen slides the phone back over to Alex, ignoring Julie’s questions. “Since when do you read celebrity gossip sites?” She then directs her attention to Julie. “And since when do you believe them?”

Alex and Julie both shrug but look at Christen expecting some type of explanation. Normally, Christen would be upset that her friends believe anything a tabloid would say, but right now, Christen is mostly surprised at being spotted at the beach. Christen tries to ignore her costars, but the piercing blue-eyed stares, that her costars are sending her from both sides, make it practically impossible. She looks toward Julie then Alex before deciding to attempt to ignore them by staring at a scratch in the table in front of her.

Alex is tapping her foot under the table expectantly and Christen can’t help but to cave. She tells them about how she met Tobin in the alley behind Red Stars and then coincidentally ran into her again in Santa Monica where Tobin was taking pictures. She speaks in a hushed voice, hoping the rest of the gossip hungry actors aren’t listening in. She leaves out a few key points, like that Tobin is _technically_ a paparazzi and how Christen _technically_ told her she was going to be in Santa Monica this morning.

When she’s finished, Alex looks impressed and Julie is trying to contain her obvious excitement. Christen blushes at the attention her friends are giving her and she cringes at the quiet squeal Julie can’t seem to contain.

“You should definitely ask her out now,” Julie says, remembering her comment from earlier.

“I thought that picture you posted was too good to not be taken by a professional.” Alex bumps her shoulder into Christen and the three watch as the producers re-enter the room. “How do I get my own personal photographer.”

“She’s not my personal photographer,” Christen denies at the same time an incoming text buzzes Christen’s phone across the table.

Before she gets a chance to grab it, Julie picks it up, reading aloud in a playful voice that Tobin’s texting her. She unlocks it before passing it behind Christen to Alex to let her read the message for herself.

“If she’s not your personal photographer, why is she offering to send you, ‘some pretty great shots of you at the beach,’ huh?”

Christen takes her phone back from Alex before reading for herself that Tobin wants to send her some of the pictures she took earlier, and makes a mental note to send Tobin her email address later. She’s not going to answer now, with the chance that Julie or Alex will tease her about it, so she places her phone in one of the pockets of her sweater and out of Alex and Julie’s sight.

Christen laces her fingers together on the table around her script, doing everything in her power to ignore the way Alex and Julie are watching her. She keeps a straight face and lets out a relieved breath when the read-through is resumed and her friends don’t get a chance to question her further.

The rest of the read-through goes smoothly, as Christen’s phone is tucked safely in her pocket. Julie and Alex don’t get to see the notification that pops up on Christen’s phone informing her that Tobin posted a photo. They have no business knowing that Christen set up alerts of Tobin’s instagram the moment she found it.

As soon as Christen is safely in her car she wastes no time opening the app to view the picture and smiles when she sees it’s another from the beach. Christen scans her eyes over the photo, committing every pixel to her memory, before sending a quick message to Tobin. Privately of course, she doesn’t want to fuel the already kindled gossip.

Yet again another beautiful picture.

Christen puts her phone away and drives off, heading home. She’s finally off of the parking lot called the 405 and is stopped at what seems like the longest red light in the world, waiting for the light to turn green, even though she’ll still be stuck five cars back at the intersection. She’s tempted to pull out her phone for something to keep her occupied, before noticing a familiar figure gliding down the street.

She doesn’t realize she’s rolling down her window, doesn’t realize that her head is hanging out of the car and that her arm is waving frantically, doesn’t register her own voice calling, “Tobin,” at a slightly higher-than-normal volume. It isn’t until she watches Tobin’s head whips around, searching through the bumper-to-bumper traffic that she really lets herself realize what she just did.

The bright smile that Tobin’s confused face changes into is enough to erase any of Christen’s embarrassment at yelling into the busy street.

She watches Tobin bend down to pick her skateboard before weaving her way through the traffic and stopping at Christen’s window.

“Look who’s following who, now,” Tobin jokes, leaning her elbows onto Christen’s window. “You heading home?”

“Trying to,” Christen replies, gesturing at the array of brake lights in front of her. Tobin hums, nodding in understanding. “I’d offer you a ride, but it’d probably take less time to just walk.

“The company would be better with you than by myself, though.” Tobin stands up and adjusts her backpack. She’s biting her bottom lip, looking a little guilty at practically inviting herself into Christen’s car, so Christen wastes no time unlocking her doors.

“Well, who am I to deny you good company?”

Tobin jogs to the other side of the car, dropping her bag and skateboard into the backseat. She gets into the car quickly, turning to Christen with a bright smile.

Christen follows along to Tobin’s directions as they inch through traffic. Tobin relaxes into the seat, seemingly as tired from her day as Christen.

“Did you spend all day on the beach?” Christen asks, taking her eyes off of the road for just a moment to glance at her passenger.

“Not all day, I got a bunch of great shots there, though.” Tobin turns in her seat to face Christen. “Speaking of, I see you liked my new picture.”

“Of course I did, you have a great eye.”

Tobin reaches into the back of the car, digging through her bag. “Not to sound creepy or anything, but you were in it.” She pulls her camera out, wrapping the neck strap around her hand as she scans through the images from the day. It takes her a while, and Christen waits patiently, but when she finally finds the photo, Tobin point the display in Christen’s direction. They’re stopped at yet another red light, so Christen takes her time admiring the picture again.

She squints at the display, searching for her apparent self and it isn’t until Tobin zooms into the left bottom corner that Christen notice an arm. “It’s when I realized you were there.”

Christen takes the camera and zooms back out, watching her apparent arm become less visible.

“How, exactly, am I supposed to know that that’s my arm?” Christen asks raising an eyebrow and laughing as Tobin scans down Christen’s arm, gesturing at a random spot on her forearm like it’s obvious. Tobin smiles brightly then presses the button to go to the next picture and it becomes completely obvious when Christen’s face comes into view.

“I was actually going to post this one,” Tobin says, scrolling a few more times over and showing Christen another photo. It’s still of the same spot at the beach, with rolling waves and fluffy clouds, but Christen’s entire body is visible. “But then I realized I should probably ask before posting you. Oh and I’ve gotten like a thousand more followers since yesterday and I’m pretty sure it’s because of you. Can’t start spreading any rumours.”

“Probably good that you didn’t.” Christen replies. “We’re apparently secretly dating according to TMZ.”

Tobin blinks a few times at Christen, before pulling out her phone. She must be looking up the article because when she finally looks back at Christen, she’s failing to contain a smile.

“That’s probably why my sister texted me earlier freaking out. Who the hell says canoodling?”

Christen laughs along with Tobin, focusing back on the street in front of her.

“Sorry to drag you into my overly public life,” Christen says after they’ve both calmed down. They’re almost to Tobin’s house and Christen’s realizes that she’s not quite ready to leave Tobin yet. “Seriously, paparazzi, am I right?”

Tobin playfully slaps at Christen’s shoulder. “This isn’t even a good picture. Did you see how blurry it is. I hope TMZ didn’t pay too much for it” Christen thinks back, trying to remember the quality, but coming up empty. All that she remembers is the butterflies that swarmed in her stomach when she first saw it.

She pulls up to the curb in front of Tobin’s house, shifting to park before turning to face Tobin. Tobin’s still engrossed in her phone, staring at the picture from the article and having no idea that they’ve arrived. The soft smile on Tobin’s face is enough to make Christen’s butterflies return as she continues to secretly watch her.

“Is it weird being on the other side of the camera?” Christen asks, breaking Tobin out of her stare. That must be the reason Tobin is so focussed on the picture.

When she meets Christen’s eye, a blush creeps across her cheeks. “A little,” Tobin responds, honestly.

Christen opens her door and rounds her car to open Tobin’s as well. She helps Tobin gather her bag and board, as Tobin straightens the camera around her neck.

“Thanks for the ride,” Tobin says as she takes her stuff from Christen. She holds her arms out and Christen wastes no time stepping toward her and into the embrace. Tobin’s hug is both soft and strong, and although Christen is in the middle of a busy sidewalk in LA, she feels safe encompassed in Tobin’s arms.

Christen pulls away reluctantly, unhappy to be leaving the warmth of Tobin’s hug. She just met her yesterday, but she feels drawn to her. Christen hasn’t felt this comfortable around a new person since becoming a household name.

“It was no problem, Tobin.” Christen leans against her car as she watches Tobin walk towards her front door. She turns around quickly, smiling brightly at Christen. She opens her mouth like she’s about to say something, but stops. Instead she lifts her camera to her eye and Christen listens to the clicks she’s becoming so fond of.

“See you soon,” Tobin promises before continuing her journey into her house. She offers one final smile and Christen lifts up her right hand in a pathetic excuse for a wave.


End file.
